


One More Time

by mayfield84



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lumax, Sad Ending, Three and one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 08:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20336977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayfield84/pseuds/mayfield84
Summary: Three times Max took Lucas back and one time she didn’t.





	One More Time

**Author's Note:**

> hey friends! this was inspired by all of the fun 3+1 fics i’ve been seeing. i always write lumax so fluffy, and most of this is no exception, but the ending is a little sad. it pained me to write. you have been warned.
> 
> another note: the timeline on this is vague because i didn’t want anything to interfere with canon plots :) yes i know she broke up with him more than three times, but a 3+1 fic only allowed me to write three of them. sorry!

Everyone thought they had a rocky relationship. Max and Lucas _constantly_ bickered. They broke up and got back together over and over again and it seemed fruitless.

Usually, it started with Lucas making a stupid mistake, Max argued about it, and they both blew it way out of proportion.

But what nobody else knew was that it made them stronger. Separately and as a couple.

“_God_, Stalker, I cannot believe you,” was usually how the fights usually started.

And that’s how it did start the first time she broke up with him. They were in Lucas’ room on a Saturday evening, relatively soon after they had started dating.

“I know, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have cancelled on you earlier to play Atari with Mike, but you’re here now and I’m here now and we can hang out!” He proposed.

“What makes you think I wanna hang out with you now? After you stood me up?” Max laughed. “No way.”

“Because you like me! So, instead of fighting, we could just, I don’t know, watch TV and kiss or something?” Lucas suggested optimistically. A guilty feeling bubbled up in his stomach and he decided he hated the arguing. He just wanted to skip past it and get to the good stuff again.

“You are unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable,” the redhead rolled her eyes. “You know what? We’re _through_. You, Lucas Sinclair, are no longer my boyfriend.”

Apparently there would be no more good stuff.

Though that was not the last time he would hear those words, it was definitely the first. And it was definitely very shocking.

“_Over?_” He squeaked. “That easily?”

Max nodded. “Yep. See you tomorrow at Wheeler’s.” She shrugged and climbed out his window, leaving Lucas open-mouthed.

The next day at Mike’s, however, was a completely different story. When Max arrived _he_ was already there.

“Hey, Stalker,” she smiled as if nothing had changed between them. She sat down next to him and smirked.

“Oh, hey,” Lucas chuckled awkwardly. Confusion filled his brain even more when she slipped her fingers into his.

“I hoped you learned your lesson,” Max learned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Uh, yeah. Definitely,” he responded, a little surprised. Usually the redhead was a lot more stubborn, but relief flooded his system when he realized they weren’t actually over. Lucas leaned over and kissed her more meaningfully. “I’m sorry I ditched you. That was shitty of me and it won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” Max warned. Half playfully, half seriously.

And he didn’t- so she never broke up with him again. For that reason, at least.

Thankfully there were plenty of other reasons for her to do so.

Namely, one day a month later, when Max found another reason. They were sitting at lunch studying their selected courses for 9th grade.

“Why do you insist on signing up for AP Biology when you said you would take GT Astronomy with me and the rest of the Party?” Lucas asked, noticing the discrepancy between their schedules. 

“Because that’s what I’m interested in taking? What’s so weird about that?” Max replied, relatively calm.

“But we all promised to take astronomy together,” her boyfriend protested. He couldn’t keep the frustration out of his voice.

“I like you guys and all, but it wouldn’t fit in my schedule. When it came time to choose which class I wanted to take the least, I chose astronomy,” she shrugged casually. It was a silly argument and she wasn’t sure why he was so worked up about it. “Plus, just because we sign up for the same class doesn’t mean we’ll have it with the same teacher in the same period.”

“Max, c’mon. Everyone else is taking astronomy. Even if we don’t end up in class together we’ll have the same course material and homework, it would be so nice to have a block all together,” Lucas urged.

“Well, you can have a block all together without me then. If you can’t support my interests because it doesn’t benefit you then we can’t be together,” Max decided.

“This is stupid! I don’t know what’s the big deal– waiting to take biology or whatever wouldn’t be that terrible, would it? If it meant you get to see the Party at least once every day?” He prompted, sounding more than irate.

“I want to take AP Bio next year so I can take Human Anatomy sophomore year, dummy, you knew that,” the redhead explained pointedly. “What happened to you being supportive? You were always so in favor of me being unique and now you want me to change that? Ugh.”

And before Lucas could get another word in, Max rolled her eyes, gathered her things, and left the table. To finish her english homework in the media center, he presumed.

They went nearly a week without speaking.

Lucas felt so terrible about what happened. And, he was vocal about how much he missed her. Mostly to Mike, but vocal nonetheless.

He was determined to get her back.

“Hey, Max,” he greeted awkwardly on her doorstep on a Thursday afternoon.

“_Lucas?_ What are you doing here?” the redhead hissed.

“I wanted to-“ Lucas began, before she cut him off.

“Hurry around to my window. We’ll talk in my room. It’s not safe out here,” Max told him worriedly. Then, the front door slammed in his face, and he heard Billy’s voice yelling indistinctly in the distance. “Just the Mormons again!” she shouted in response.

A minute later, Lucas was talking wildly at her while the redhead sat on her bed.

“-the conclusion is, I’m sorry I didn’t support you. I’m so nervous for next year and I wasn’t sure if I was going to see you at all during the school day, and that made me sad. Astronomy was the one class I was sure we would have together, and I guess you deciding not to take it felt like you didn’t care about seeing me,” he finished, winded from the nonstop word-vomit.

“Stalker, of _course_ I care about seeing you every day. I’m not worried about it though because I know we’ll make time to see each other, regardless of whether we have classes together or not,” Max got up and took his hands into hers.

“That’s good,” Lucas took in a deep breath and heaved a great sigh of relief. The solace in his chest only amplified as the redhead stood on her toes to press a reassuring kiss to his lips. “Well, I got you these anyway, to make up for it.”

He released her hands and turned around to a large brown paper bag he had carried through her window. Max’s eyes narrowed as he handed her the heavy package.

When she slid out what was inside her heart skipped a beat.

It was a decrepit Human Anatomy textbook, clearly secondhand and well-worn, smelling heavily of weed. But it was heavy and held together enough.

“It’s so you can get a head start on anatomy before you even take biology,” Lucas explained, somehow sounding equally excited and sheepish.

She felt the thin pages between her fingers as she leafed through it briefly, until she got to the inside cover. On it were sloppy words written in thick black ink. “What’s this?” Max asked, trying to decipher the handwriting.

“Oh, that’s just a quick list of a few things that are unique about you. Things I should never and will never try to change,” Lucas said nervously. It was a very cheesy gesture, and he wrung his hands and prepared himself for the abrading teases and witty remarks about it.

But they never came. He watched as she examined the relatively long list, her mouth moving along with the words as she read them. That was unique thing #12 on the list and she chuckled when she saw it.

“Thanks, Stalker. This is really sweet,” Max smiled softly and gave him another kiss.

“Yeah, I try,” her boyfriend chuckled, embarrassed.

From then on, Lucas supported all of her rational decisions and let her make choices for herself. She was beyond appreciative.

Until the next time of course, when she was not happy for some other reason. Rest assured that was never too far away with these two.

The next occurrence happened a few weeks later when they were hanging out with Dustin and Will (Mike and El off swapping spit elsewhere). They were riding up to the quarry, Max on her skateboard, the boys on their bikes. 

No issue would have arisen save for the redhead’s inability to ride on the rocky terrain as soon as the smooth road turned to gravel.

The boys could tell she was struggling, but kept their mouths closed. They knew the girl well enough to know she was as stubborn as a mule and would never admit defeat, let alone accept their help.

Until her front left wheel was caught on a rock and sent her flying forward down the hill.Pain tore through her palms, knees, and shins as she braced her impact and slid down the sharp stones.

“Holy shit, Max, are you okay?” Lucas was the first to call out, obviously being the one to watch her the closest. He quickly got off his bike, set it down, and ran over to her. His friends followed suit.

“Yeah, Stalker, I’m fine,” the redhead laughed pathetically. She examined her wounds. The dusty gravel was settling into her deep scrapes and sent hot flashes of pain throughout her extremities.

“You don’t look fine,” Will commented wisely, shrugging.

“She’s fine, rub some dirt on it and get back up. That’s what Steve always says,” Dustin insisted after he had seen the extent of her wounds.

“Ah, shit, that stings,” Max hissed when Lucas examined her right hand. She unintentionally yanked it away when he touched the quickly bleeding wound.

“Hold still, let me see,” her boyfriend instructed, then using his other hand to grip her wrist tightly so she couldn’t move it.

The redhead instantly grew uncomfortable.

“_Lucas_,” she muttered, trying to pull her hand away. His hold just tightened.

“Max, hold still,” he demanded. He was trying to look at her badly scraped and bloodied palm, but she was squirming in his grip too much. 

“Lucas, _stop_!” Max cried, grabbing his the wrist holding onto her with her other bloody hand, ignoring the bitter pain that came along with the action.

“Stop what? What the hell?” Lucas asked, sounding scared. He took his hands off of her and looked at his wrist, which was covered in her blood.

“You know not to touch me like _that! _Like_ him! _You were _supposed_ to know!” She exclaimed. Subtle tears formed and he saw the panic in her eyes. He felt regret boil up in his system.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry, I forgot,” he apologized, reaching out for her once again. But when he saw the redhead clutching herself defensively, he thought better of it.

“Not cool, Stalker. Not cool,” Max wiped a tear from her cheek, picked up her board in her bloody hands, and began walking in the direction of home.

“Max, please, I’m _sorry_, let me help you,” Lucas called and ran after her. He abruptly stopped in his tracks when she spun around, looking like she wanted to punch someone.

“Haven’t you done enough already?” She hissed. The redhead felt a shudder run up her spine before she walked away again. The way his grip tightened around her wrist, how strong he was and how she couldn’t tear away– it felt too familiar for comfort and made her feel panicky on the inside. She had to get out of there.

The other boys watched in shock and confusion as their redheaded friend walked away.

“_Shit_ guys, I really messed up,” Lucas mumbled, putting his head in his hands. Dustin put his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry dude, you’ll figure out some way to make it up to her,” the curly-haired boy reassured. 

Low and behold, he did. 

After a week and a half of trying to contact Max over their radios, Lucas finally got through to her.

“Max, I am so sorry. Like, you don’t understand how sorry I am,” he begged into the speaker.

“Stalker, _stop_. I know,” the redhead told him. He couldn’t quite decipher her tone over the crackling quality of the sound.

“To make it up to you I-“ He began.

“You don’t have to make it up to me. Just forget it ever happened,” Max almost sounded disappointed. Maybe that’s what it was.

“I’m going to though. I’ll come pick you up in fifteen,” Lucas said before turning off his radio with a click.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the redhead was on the back of his bike, clutching on to him as closely as she could.

“Where are we going, exactly?” She asked.

“You’ll see. It’ll be fun. Trust me,” he implored. Max didn’t respond with words, but she did hold him a little tighter. She seemed strangely quiet, her boyfriend decided.

Once Lucas pulled into the parking lot of Benny’s, the redhead narrowed her eyes.

“The diner? What are we doing here?” She asked, climbing off the bike.

“Taking you on a proper date,” he replied simply.

“Oh,” Max rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t contain the smile on her face.

They entered the diner hand-in-hand and the hostess greeted them with a suspicious look. 

“How many in your party, two?” The woman of probably 20 asked, picking up menus for the couple.

“Yeah, it’ll just be us this evening,” Lucas shot a sly smile at his redheaded girlfriend and she giggled.

The hostess led them to a booth tucked away in the back corner of the nearly-empty diner.

“I didn’t bring any money,” Max chuckled nervously once they were alone.

“I’ve been saving up allowance and lawn-mowing money for the past couple of weeks to take you somewhere, it just happened to also be a good apology present,” Lucas explain excitedly. “Oh, speaking of gifts, I got you this too.” He pulled out a medium-sized package surrounded by Hawkins Daily newsprint. “Sorry for the paper. I couldn’t find anything for wrapping that wasn’t Christmas themed.”

“It’s fine,” she laughed and gladly accepted the package. When she tore open the paper and saw what was inside, her eyes went wide. “You got me all four new Wonder Woman issues? Stalker, you _know_ I always wait until they go on sale to get these.”

“Yeah, well, you’re worth it. My mom chipped in, too,” her boyfriend told her sheepishly. “Said something about always wanting to ‘support woman empowerment, no matter how scantily clad,’” he quoted. “Whatever that means.”

Apparently Max thought it was very funny because she laughed hard at it.

“Tell her I say thank you,” the redhead smiled and hugged the comics close to her chest. “And thank you, too,” she murmured, leaning across the table to plant a sweet kiss on his lips. He felt his chest glow. 

Mission accomplished.

“Hello, my name is Sara, and I will be your waitress this evening. Can I get you guys something to drink?” A blonde of probably 17 asked the two.

“We’ll have two waters, a strawberry chocolate shake to share,” Max spoke for the both of them. Her boyfriend confirmed with a nod.

“And actually, we’ll have an order of the Super Fries too,” Lucas chimed. Their waitress nodded.

“I’ll be right back with those,” she told them before hurrying back to the kitchen.

“So?” Max prompted, putting her elbows on the table and leaning forward. 

“So,” the dark-skinned boy replied cooly

“I’m not sure what to do now,” she sighed. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“I don’t know, talk? Like adults or something?” Lucas shrugged and grabbed a packet of artificial sweetener from the caddy. He tore it open and poured it out onto the table, Max watching intensely.

“Sounds gross. I’m willing to try it though,” she replied playfully. She was intrigued as he spread out the tiny white granules in a swirly pattern.

“I have a question for you then,” her boyfriend said, sounding rather serious seemingly out of nowhere. He stopped playing with the artificial sweetener artwork he was making on the table.

“Shoot,” the redhead told him. 

“Why do you keep forgiving me?” Lucas asked, shifting his gaze to meet hers directly. 

“Because it’s your first relationship as much as it is mine. Neither of us have a clue what we’re doing. There’s no point in expecting things to be perfect the first go. Every time we break up we get a little better,” Max shrugged casually. The directness of her tone made his heart warm. There was no hesitation or complication in her speech.

She was simple.

She wasn’t easy, but she was good.

And that was enough for a long time.

But then, one day, it wasn’t.

One day in some month of some year, long after they had began, Max and Lucas ended.

They sat far apart from each other on the Sinclair’s living room couch. The large house was empty and lacked the warmth and feeling of home that usually accompanied it.

“I can’t do this anymore. It’s so tiring fighting with you constantly. I’m sorry. It’s over,” Max mumbled. Her chest was heaving with effort and emotions. Tears prickled in her eyes. This time he felt it was real and it scared Lucas to his core. 

She had just shown up at his door like this, completely out of the blue.

What if he couldn’t win her back?

“Max, please, I’m sorry. For whatever I did. Just tell me what’s wrong and I promise I’ll never do it again,” Lucas swore, putting his hand on her upper arm.

He wasn’t expecting her to shrink away like she did.

“That’s exactly the problem, Lucas! You never know what you did wrong but you apologize over and over again and I can’t take it anymore!” she cried out. Her voice tore through the air and left a heavy silence.

“I don’t know what else to do Max. I love you and I don’t want to loose you,” he muttered.

“Do you really though? Because most of the time it doesn’t feel like it,” the redhead spat.

“Please, just tell me how to fix this. How to make things better,” Lucas begged. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes too.

“I... I wish I could tell you, but I don’t think there is,” Max replied and looked down at her feet. He watched as the she absentmindedly picked at the scab on her hand. It was from a few days ago, he recalled, when she accidentally scraped her hand closing her locker.

“There has to be. We can’t be over,” Lucas sounded baffled at the conclusion. He _always_ won her back. That’s how they worked.

“Do you not hear the words I’m saying?” The redhead resisted, now meeting his gaze directly. “We’re over, Lucas. This isn’t working.”

The gravity of her words finally settling in his chest. “Please Max, don’t do this,” Lucas cried softly, tears finally spilling onto his cheeks.

“I have to. For both of our sake,” she shook her head and looked away again.

“Bullshit! You know we’re happier when we’re together,” he protested angrily. “I know you, Max. You’re scared of something, and I’m not sure what, but whatever it is, _please_ tell me!”

“Oh yeah? And what makes you think that?” She laughed. But her laugh wasn’t sweet and mellifluous like usual. It sounded pained. And cruel.

“You’re being incredibly vague, you’re wringing your hands like you do when you’re nervous, you’re biting your lip, and you keep playing with the hem on your shirt. Hell, you can’t even look at me,” Lucas pointed out, irate. Why was she being so difficult about this?

“I bet you can’t even look at me in the eyes and tell me you really want to break up,” he dared.

“Really? Fine,” Max spat. She brought her watery blue eyes to meet his. His glowing deep brown gaze was so warm and familiar- full of love and desperation and admiration and disbelief. It broke her heart. “Lucas? I really want to break up. For real.” 

Her sincere words hung heavily in silence. She was biting her lip again, and her eyes were watering. It was impossible to decipher what her expression meant.

Was she sad? Terrified? Hurt?

Relieved?

“Oh,” Lucas muttered after a long minute of silence.

“And Lucas, you were right,” she began slowly. “I was scared. Because I really didn’t want to hurt you but I knew that you would make this _so_ hard.”

Tears now fell down Max’s cheeks and he ached to wrap her up in a tight embrace kiss her until she felt better.

“Max, I-“ Lucas started, clearly fumbling for the right words to say.

“Don’t. Just don’t,” she cut him off and threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his waist. The redhead sobbed into his shirt. He tentatively wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him tighter. 

It took Lucas a moment to realize he was crying too.

Her hair smelled so good- like coconut and warmth and everything he loved. She was his world and he closed his eyes and took in the moment. It would probably be the last time he ever held her in his arms like this. From then on, she wouldn’t be his anymore.

“Lucas?” Max looked up at him. Her freckled cheeks were splotchy and her eyes were red. Not to mention her cheeks were soaked.

“Max,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper. The redhead leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. It was so soft, so sweet, so right. The gesture was full of love and heartbreak at the same time.

“I’m sorry,” she told Lucas before tearing herself away from him. She pulled her long sleeve down over her hand and she used it to wipe her eyes. 

They exchanged one last long look before Max turned and walked away, leaving Lucas to stare after her.

**Author's Note:**

> don’t worry if this made you sad– i have plenty of other happy/soft/fluffy/possibly smutty (c;) lumax content coming soon. my vacation pt. 2 is almost over and i have some long fics written!! longer than most of my past ones! yes, they take a lot longer to write and edit, but i think it’s worth it in the end. more story for you to read.
> 
> anyways, thanks for reading and i hope you’ll toon in next time for more lumax content :)


End file.
